Most victims of hate crime black and male

Majority of targeted group not from South Africa

Nationality‚ sexual orientation and religion are the top three reasons for hate crimes in South Africa‚ the Hate Crimes Working Group (HCWG) revealed yesterday.

At 59%‚ the HCWG research revealed that most victims of hate crime were black or African.

Most of these victims were, however‚ non-South African nationals‚ it said.

“Less than half [42%] of victims were born in South Africa. Twenty-eight percent originated from an east African country and 18% from a Central African country‚” the report read.

Men were the greatest victims of hate crimes‚ accounting for 68% of the victims interviewed.

Thirty-five percent of hate crimes were directed at lesbian or gay individuals while 1% of the victims were bisexual.

The workplace was the most common place where hate crimes occurred.

“Victims other than the primary reporting victims were most often (49%) colleagues or co-workers‚ mostly in cases perpetrated against non-nationals as tuck‚ barber and hair salon shops were often targeted.

“Family members represented 28% of cases‚ with children being present in 27% of these cases or friends (23%).”

In 34% of cases‚ the perpetrator was known to the victim, or a member of the community (also 34%) and in 32% of the cases the perpetrator was unknown.

Police officers‚ government employees‚ doctors, nurses and teachers also featured as perpetrators of hate crime. HCWG conducted the research based on 945 cases it investigated over a five-year period.

It focused its research on five provinces – Gauteng‚ Western Cape, KwaZuluNatal‚ Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

Eastern Cape accounted for the bulk of the hate crimes at 27%‚ followed by the Western Cape (26%) and Gauteng at 20%.

The group yesterday launched a petition calling for the minister of justice to push the Hate Crimes Bill into law.